STTR Phase II: Versatile Low-Noise Traveling-Wave Parametric Amplifier for Quantum Information Processing

这项小企业创新研究（SBIR）第二阶段项目的更广泛影响是推进量子技术。目前，大型量子计算机（以量子比特或量子位的数量来衡量）的建造受到许多有线连接的阻碍，这些连接必须连接在低温冷却电路和室温电子设备之间。该项目将提出一种同时增强来自多个量子比特（量子位）的弱信号的方法，从而降低硬件的复杂性和尺寸。该产品将有助于提高硬件密度，实现更强大的量子计算机，从而推动科学、药物开发、材料、疾病诊断的机器学习能力、天气预报和有效分配资源的算法方面的新突破。这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）二期项目将推进量子计算机放大器的开发。量子计算机需要量子噪声限制放大器才能有效运行，但由于制造困难和缺乏通用解决方案，此类设备尚未商业化。该项目将开发专门的放大器，可以在商业铸造厂制造大规模部署。这项技术采用了一种创新的超导元件排列方式来形成一种新型放大器。该工艺将容忍制造变化，以实现大规模生产。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project is to advance quantum technologies. Currently, the construction of larger quantum computers, measured by the number of quantum bits or qubits, is hampered by the many wired connections that must connect between the cryogenically-cooled circuits and room-temperature electronics. This project will advance a method to simultaneously boost the weak signals from many quantum bits (qubits) at the same time, and therefore reduce hardware complexity and size. This product will help increase the density of hardware, enabling more powerful quantum computers that will drive new breakthroughs in science, drug development, materials, machine learning capabilities for disease diagnostics, weather predictions, and algorithms for the efficient direction of resources. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will advance the development of amplifiers for quantum computers. Quantum computers require quantum noise-limited amplifiers for efficient operation, but such devices are not commercially available due to the difficulty in fabrication and lack of universal solutions. This project will develop specialized amplifiers that can be fabricated in commercial foundries for deployment at scale. The technology uses an innovative arrangement of superconducting elements to form a novel amplifier. This process will be tolerant to manufacturing variations to enable production at scale.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.